With Her Fingers Crossed
by Snitwick
Summary: Something is on Sakura's mind and she can't rest until she tells Ino. Ino finds that what she has been looking for comes along only after she has stopped looking. InoSaku. Past SakuSasu, InoSasu, InoShika, InoChou. Brief mention of ShikaTema. One shot.


ï»¿Disclaimer: Naruto is not mine.

Ino was in her parents' shop, balancing on a stool behind the cash register and painting her toenails, when the phone rang. She tried to lean over to the counter and swipe it off the cradle without getting down from the stool (she didn't want to ruin the coat she had just put on her toenails), but she lost her balance and crashed. The jar of silver nail polish slipped from her hands and broke on the ground. Ino cursed, picked herself up, stepped over the bottle and grabbed the phone.

"What is it?" she snapped.

"Ino? Are you okay?"

"Oh," said Ino, "I'm fine--just dropped some nail polish. What are you up to, Sakura?"

"Nothing," said Sakura cryptically. "Hey--do you mind if I come over to the shop?"

"Sure," said Ino. "Is something wrong?"

"Um," said Sakura, "Sort of. I'll tell you when I get there."

As she said good-bye and hung up, Ino frowned. She had only finished painting half of her right foot and that shade of silver was no longer on sale. On top of that, Sakura was acting mysterious. Something was up, and she still had to wipe up the silver nail polish before it hardened and her parents received a surprise when they got back in two days. Grudgingly, Ino grabbed a wet rag and started to wipe up the mess. She was almost finished when she heard the bell on the door ring, announcing a customer.

"One minute!" she hollered. She wiped up the last trace of silver nail polish and stood up.

Sakura was standing next to the door and tentatively touching a petal on a bouquet Ino had arranged that morning. She must not have heard Ino stand up, for she looked lost in her thoughts and completely oblivious to the busy village existing all around her. Ino caught herself admiring the gentle slope of her lax face and threw the ruined towel into the trash can at the end of the desk.

The sound drew Sakura's attention back to the store and she turned her head to look at her best friend. She smiled, and it didn't take Ino the nine years of history between the two to recognize that something wasn't ... right.

Ino wiped her hands on her apron and walked around the counter. Sakura looked down at her feet as Ino approached.

"I really shouldn't offer," said Ino, "But do you want to go for a walk?"

Sakura looked up, surprised. "You would shut up the shop after you parents entrusted it in your care?"

"Why not? Shikamaru owes me a favor and it's his day off. If you can spare a moment, I'll change and we can stop by his house and ask him to babysit the shop."

"Really?"

Ino nodded and looked smug. "It's been pretty boring all day; I'm sure he can handle it. If he complains, I'll just threaten to tell everyone about the conversation I overheard between Temari and him."

"What conversation?" asked Sakura. The gossip appeared to lighten her mood a little, but Ino wasn't about to share.

"Uh-uh," said Ino, waggling a finger at Sakura. "I promised I wouldn't tell anyone--not even you--unless he gave me a reason."

Sakura didn't bring up the subject again and waited patiently for Ino to change into a fresh shirt, close up the shop and slip the key in her pocket. Then they walked to Shikamaru's house in silence.

When they got to his place, Ino hollered up at the roof rather than ringing the doorbell. A few seconds later, Shikamaru's face peered over the edge of the roof.

"What do you want now?"

"Sakura and I are going to the park. Remember that little favor I did for you two months ago? I'm here to collect."

Shikamaru sighed, but didn't complain. "I'll be down in a minute."

A moment later, Shikamaru opened the front door. He didn't look happy to be recruited to babysit the shop, but he didn't say a word. Ino handed him the key to the shop.

"Thanks," she said. "We'll be back before too late."

"Whatever," said Shikamaru. He put the key in the pocket of his vest and headed off in the direction of the flower shop.

Ino and Sakura started toward the park. They walked in silence for a few moments.

"I should have brought food if we're going to the park," said Sakura regretfully.

"Are you hungry?" asked Ino.

"Not especially. Today is perfect for a picnic, though."

"If you ever get hungry, let me know," said Ino. "We can stop at a street vendor and buy something."

When Sakura didn't look eager at this suggestion, Ino reassured her. "My treat."

"Thanks," said Sakura softly.

A few more moments passed in awkward silence, before Ino spoke up.

"What did you want to talk about?" she asked.

Sakura frowned and bit her lip.

Ino tried to prompt her. "Is it about Sasuke?"

"Sort of."

Ino laughed and Sakura looked up, startled.

"You should have just said so. I thought you were really worried for a moment there," said Ino, grinning. "If it's just about Sasuke, then forget it. So Naruto and you lost him this time. Big deal. You'll bring him back eventually. Both of you will, even if Naruto is an idiot and you have a wide forehead."

"It's not about that," said Sakura.

"But I thought you just said it was about Sasuke," protested Ino.

"It's about him, but not about him leaving."

"Then what is it about?" asked Ino. Sakura's crypticness was beginning to really wreck up her inner sense of direction. If Sakura wasn't upset that she had failed to convince Sasuke to come home, then what _was_ she upset about?

"I've just been thinking," started Sakura. "What if... what if I don't love him?"

Ino stared at Sakura. "Did you accidently bump your wide forehead?"

Sakura gave her a weak smile, but continued. "I still love him, as a teammate; I haven't given up on him, either. But I've been thinking. How do I tell if I still love him _romantically_?"

"What brought this on?" asked Ino.

By this time, they had reached a bench and Sakura sat down on it. Ino sat down next to her and turned her head to examine her best friend's face. The blur of confusion and worry and aloneness on Sakura's face was a completely foreign mask. Ino had never seen her best friend this emotionally confused. In the past, emotions had been easy for Sakura. _Love_ had been easy for Sakura. She had decided that she loved Sasuke, and that was it. No second-guessing.

For Ino, it had been a different story. She had loved Sasuke--sometimes she thought she still did. She _knew_ he was hot, but after getting to know Shikamaru and Chouji better, she thought that maybe the affection she had felt for Sasuke wasn't genuine. She had gone through a brief fling with the notion that she was first attracted to Shikamaru, then Chouji, before finally settling on the idea of staying single for a few more years. Ino had heard a rumor that one's love life improved when one wasn't paying attention to it; she was testing it out, but she couldn't tell whether it was working or not yet. Seeing Sakura have trouble--real trouble--with her love life was like seeing Tsunade win a bet, or hearing that Asuma had given up cigarettes; it just didn't happen.

"I'm not sure," confessed Sakura. "I just feel like I'm wasting my life, waiting for Sasuke to return my feelings. I've loved him for nine years without wavering. I've stuck by him loyally. I didn't give up when he left and I didn't judge him for seeking out Orochimaru.

"I thought I understood what he was going through, but when we finally met up with him, he totally ignored me. It wasn't as if I expected him to greet me warmly and tell me he loved me, but he didn't even _acknowledge_ me.

"I feel horrible for even thinking about it, but for a brief moment I contemplated the possibility that I was in love with him _because_ I knew that I could never attain him. When I was six, I never imagined that he would leave the village, but I always thought that he would choose another girl. A girl like you. I never thought that he would return my feelings, and I wonder if that's the reason that he became so attractive to me."

Ino reached out a hand and touched Sakura's. She ran her fingertips over the smooth skin on the back of Sakura's hand, and shifted a few inches closer to Sakura. She brought her hand up and turned Sakura's surprised face towards her. Leaning in, Ino kissed Sakura on the mouth.

It was not the best kiss that Ino had ever had. In fact, it was dry and rather awkward. Sakura was overwhelmed and just _sat_ there, stunned. Ino pulled back.

"Are you hungry yet?" she asked. "There's a vendor right over there selling dango."

"Sure," mumbled Sakura, still a little emotionally thrown.

As Ino got up to go, Sakura stopped her. "One more thing, Ino-"

Ino turned back to face Sakura and Sakura pushed herself forward in one, sudden gesture. She kissed Ino back fiercely. Ino stared at her in disbelief, and it was Sakura's turn to smile and act like nothing had happened. "Can you get some with sesame seeds?"

As Ino walked over to the vendor to get sesame seed dango for Sakura, she realized that the myth that one's love life improved when one wasn't paying attention had to be true. Half her right toenails were coated in silver nail polish, she was skipping work after her parents had entrusted her with the shop, and she had wasted a potentially good IOU from Shikamaru--all things she would never have done if she had been worrying about her love life--but she had never felt more sure of herself.

Glancing back over her shoulder, she saw Sakura watching her and smiling. Ino winked at her and stepped up to order the dango. Ino paid for the food, waved him away when he tried to return her change, and walked back toward the bench.

As they sat on the bench, working their way through the dango, Sakura asked the question that was on both their minds.

"Where do we go from here?"

"Wherever we want," said Ino, interlacing her sticky fingers in Sakura's.

Sakura smiled and squeezed Ino's hand gently. "How about home?" she asked. "Shikamaru's probably worrying."

Ino snorted. "Shikamaru worry? Hardly." Despite her scoffing, she didn't protest as they started back.

When they got to the shop, Ino didn't want to part with Sakura.

"I don't want to go either," said Sakura. "But I have a lesson with Tsunade in fifteen minutes and I can't be late."

Ino pouted, but agreed. "Will you come by tomorrow? My parents won't be back for two days."

Sakura smiled. "Of course I will."

She gave Ino a quick kiss and hurried down the street. At the corner, she glanced back over her shoulder and waved. Ino waved back and watched Sakura disappear.

Then she walked inside the flower shop and punched the air. "Yes!"

"What's the matter with you?" asked Shikamaru, from where he was lounging behind the cash register.

"Oh," said Ino, blushing as she suddenly remembered that Shikamaru was there. "Nothing," she said smiling. "Nothing's the matter."

Her fingers were crossed behind her back; her love life might appear to be heading for glorious things finally, but Ino wasn't going to test her luck


End file.
